Page 31 of Collapsed

“Maybe you can helpSCREWit in later, Prince-y,” Alexie snarks back. Anyone else would think they might try to kill each other, but everyone at the table starts to feel more at ease. This is our normal. As crazy and strange as it might seem to anyone else.

“Nat was telling us what she was going through before you two jackasses started flirting with each other,” Stryker says.

“It was a nice break in the depressing mood, Stryker,” I assure him. “There really isn’t much more to tell. Ivan is a psycho. He told me about his childhood. He had caring parents, who tried to help him as much as they could, but it was never going to help. He’s always been deranged, and he murdered his parents.” BJ gasps next to me, and I squeeze her hand back.

“I’m doing everything I can to find Ivan,” Conrad says. “He really is this shadow or Umbra. When he wants to disappear, he does. Anything from Jaxxon?” he asks Alexie.

“Nothing more. Jaxxon is busy rallying support for my claim to the Bratva. It seems the men are not pleased with Ivan blowing up his own followers. Also, many of them did not know about the auctions. Ivan and Andrei were smart to keep all of that separate and made sure to pick those that would not mind. Those men, though, don’t know much about Ivan’s hideouts or where he might go.” Alexie’s information confirms what we all know. Ivan went back underground, and it’s only a matter of time before he strikes again. We need to get ahead of him.

An alarm sounding on Conrad’s computer snaps our focus to him. “It seems Reid Daniels is about to have a meeting at his place. I hacked his servers, in case you were wondering. No need to go into the disgusting details I found there, but someone is meeting with him for ‘product’, or that’s what it says here. Obviously, it’s a code word for something else.”

How are there so many disgusting fucks in this world?When this is over, we need to take them all out one by one.

“Go get ready. We’re heading to Reid’s place now. BJ and Katia, no argument, but you are staying here with Conrad. Conrad, I need you back on comms and tech.” Stryker looks at BJ. “Not that you didn’t do amazing filling in, but…”

“Oh, no need to apologize. The stress of running comms that night will last me for a long time. Katia and I will be here to support Conrad,” BJ tells him.

“Hold on a second,” I say loudly. “Was anyone going to mention that Conrad was a sexy fucking fighting machine? I don’t know the last time I was so turned on by a man fighting.”

Conrad beams with pride at my statement, but the feeling is not shared by others. “You wound me,Malyshka,” Alexie says. “All the people we have murdered together, and it is Conrad… On second thought, I am now turned on as well. I take back what I said.” No one responds, but we’re all looking at Alexie, a little confused but not surprised at what he says anymore.

I’m in the back of the SUV, sitting between King and Alexie. Marcela is sitting up front, changing Stryker’s music, and arguing about how his music does not get them pumped up enough for the mission to come. We pull up to a two-story walk-up.Damn, the Bratva is definitely paying this man a little too well.

“Marcela and I are going to the front door. King, Alexie, and Nat, you are going around back. The path right there,” Stryker points to a drive next to Reid’s place, “goes all the way through. It’ll give you access to his backyard.”

We waste no time getting out and heading to our route. King is in front, with me right behind him and Alexie bringing up the rear. Alexie’s head is on a swivel, and he’s not taking any chances of walking into another trap. I see no movement at the window, but all the curtains are covering any chance of looking in. We make it to the backyard and start creeping to the door. There are three steps up to the door, but as we’re walking up, I notice something is wrong with the window to the left of the door.

“Hold up,” I order. “Look at that window. There’s a circle cut out of it. Something is wrong,” I tell them.

King gets on his comms and relays what I told him to the others. Stryker orders us to proceed but to be careful. King reaches for the door handle, and it opens.Something is definitelynotright. A man in this line of work would never have an unlocked door.I keep my firearm ready in my right hand and my dagger prepped in my left as we enter the house.

The backdoor leads us directly into the kitchen. It’s clear, and nothing seems out of place. Making our way out the doorway and into a hall, we see Stryker and Marcela entering from the other side. We move towards each other until we are all at the base of the stairs. Stryker gives the signal for me and Alexie to follow him up the stairs and for Marcela and King to check the other rooms down on this level.

I follow Stryker up the stairs, with Alexie behind me again. This old house is all narrow hallways and a lot of doors, keeping me on edge because there are too many blind corners to hide around. The first two doors are open, with the first being a bathroom and the second being an office. Both are clear, with no signs of anyone being here or any signs of a recent struggle.

The final door up here is closed, and as we move closer to it, I get a sinking feeling in my gut. Stryker opens the door, and we see it’s a bedroom, but on the bed is a tied-up Reid Daniels. His stomach is flayed open, with his insides now splayed around him. Across his forehead, the word ‘rapist’ is carved into his skin. There is a lot of blood around it, letting me know he was alive when it happened.Good.

“What the fuck happened here?” I ask. Alexie taps me on the shoulder. I look back at him, and he points to the wall opposite the bed. Written in what I’m assuming is Reid’s blood is the phrase,

Umbra

1, 2… I see you

3, 4… you can’t hide anymore

Someone else is after Ivan. This explains where there was a hole in the window. They broke in, took care of business, and left. Now we have to be the ones to clean up this mess.

Stryker is also looking at the message on the wall. He gets back on the comms and tells King and Marcela to get their asses up here now. I can hear their footsteps racing up the stairs and down the hall. As King enters, he informs us, “Nobody is downstairs…” He freezes when he sees Reid’s body on the bed. He turns his focus to the message we’re all staring at. “What the actual fuck is going on?”

“Looks like we’re not the only one hunting, Ivan,” Stryker declares.

King

Thesunlightshimmeringthroughthe curtains rouses me from my slumber. I stretch as I blink my eyes open, adjusting them to the fact that it is morning. A whimper has me rolling to my side. Pulling Luci in closer to me as she sleeps, I cuddle her as she settles back down.She must have been having a nightmare.I close my eyes, content with being wrapped around my girl, and drift back off.

“Just like that, baby, take my cock,” I moan at the dream I’m having. Luci is on her knees and gagging as I fuck her mouth roughly. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, I hold her steady and pump in and out of her warm mouth. A slight nip to the tip of my dick has me jolting awake.

Moving my gaze to my cock, I see this was no dream. She is hovering over me, bobbing her head up and down. “You’re a wicked girl, Luci, waking me up like that. I was having the best dream,” I tell her while quirking my lips.

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